Alt Name: | Portrait Artist of the Year Landscape Artist of the Year |
Country: | United Kingdom |
Language: | English |
Num Series: | 15 |
Num Episodes: | 141 |
Runtime: | 60 minutes (inc. adverts) |
Company: | Storyvault Films |
Network: | Sky Arts |
Artist of the Year is a television competition shown on the Sky Arts channel (formerly known as Artsworld and Sky Arts 1) which aims to find the best portrait and landscape artist every year.[1]
Through several rounds of regional competitions in different parts of the UK professional and amateur artists are challenged to produce a landscape; whilst the portrait competition takes place in London where the contestants produce a picture of one of three famous sitters. The winning artist of each round, selected by three judges, advances to the semi-final and then to the final. The landscape competition is filmed on location; whilst the portrait competition is held at Battersea Arts Centre.[2] The winner of both series receives a £10,000 commission to paint either a famous landmark or a famous personality and the picture becomes part of a national collection.
The show is produced by London and Glasgow-based independent production company Storyvault Films. It is presented by Joan Bakewell and Stephen Mangan. Series 1 to 5 were presented by Frank Skinner. The judges are the British art historian, curator and arts broadcaster Kate Bryan, head of contemporary art at the Fine Art Society, Kathleen Soriano, director of exhibitions at the Royal Academy, and portrait/landscape painter Tai-Shan Schierenberg.
Joan Bakewell presented her final series of the show on Portrait Artist 2023 (Series 18 of the competition), in which she also appeared as a sitter in one of the episodes.[3]
Series | Start date | End date | Episodes | Title | Winner | Commission | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 6 | Portrait | Nick Lord[4] | Hilary Mantel | |||
2 | 8 | Portrait | Christian Hook[5] | Alan Cumming | |||
3 | 9 | Landscape | Nerine McIntyre[6] | Flatford Mill | |||
4 | 9 | Landscape | Richard Allen[7] | Petworth Park | |||
5 | 9 | Portrait | Gareth Reid[8] | Graham Norton | |||
6 | 9 | Landscape | Tom Voyce[9] | Firefly, Noël Coward's Jamaican residence | |||
7 | 11 | Portrait | Samira Addo[10] | Kim Cattrall | |||
8 | 9 | Landscape | Jen Gash[11] | Commission for the Imperial War Museum | |||
9 | 11 | Portrait | Duncan Shoosmith[12] | Tom Jones | |||
10 | 9 | Landscape | Fujiko Rose | Venice | |||
11 | 11 | Portrait | Christabel Blackburn[13] | Nile Rogers | |||
12 | 11 | Portrait | Curtis Holder | Carlos Acosta[14] | |||
13 | 9 | Landscape | Ophelia Redpath[15] | Snowdonia National Park | |||
14 | 12 | Portrait | Calum Stevenson[16] | Nicola Benedetti[17] | |||
15 | 10 | Landscape | Elisha Enfield[18] | Rochdale Canal | |||
16 | 12 | Portrait | Morag Caister | Lenny Henry | |||
17 | 10 | Landscape | Finn Campbell-Notman | Celebrating the Van de Veldes | |||
18 | 10 | Portrait | Wendy Barratt | Jane Goodall[19] | |||
19 | 9 | Landscape | Monica Popham | Science Museum |
Landscape Artist of the Year Canada, a Canadian version of the show, premiered in 2020 on Makeful.[20]